Woman Pleads Innocent To Murder Charge

The alleged mastermind of an interstate drug ring, indicted two years ago and charged with ordering the 1980 execution of a commercial pilot, appeared in court Monday to face the charges.

Judy Haas McNelis, 42, once the only woman named on the U.S. Marshal Service`s 15 Most Wanted List, stood before Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Burk accused of ordering the 1980 slaying of pilot Frank Marrs. The pilot`s body was found in a remote area in the county`s northwest section.

``You are charged with what appears to be first-degree, premeditated murder,`` Burk told McNelis, after reading an indictment returned in January 1984.

Burk entered a plea of not guilty for McNelis, who could face trial as early as March.

During Monday`s hearing, McNelis told Burk that she had arrived in Palm Beach County two days before Christmas, after being transported from a federal prison in California.

She said it took 15 days for her to be transported and described the conditions as ``very inhumane.``

McNelis said there were times she was in the back of a truck for 24 hours without being allowed to get out.

Investigators have charged McNelis and another woman, Jean Tumulty of Delray Beach, with ordering the execution of Marrs, a former Eastern Airlines pilot from Lake Placid, Fla.

Investigators believe Marrs made several flights for the drug ring and was owed money. They said he was killed so the ring would not have to pay him.

The ring, according to agents, is believed to have transported marijuana from Jamaica to Georgia.

In addition to McNelis, three others were charged with Marrs` murder.

Tumulty was convicted in November 1984 and sentenced to life in prison.

Earlier, John Parrella and Gary Childers pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Both were given 15-year prison sentences.

Parrella, a witness against Tumulty, had said he was given $30,000 to kill Marrs.

Childers testified he drove Marrs and Parrella to the wooded site where Parrella said he fired two shots into Marrs` head and neck.

McNelis, according to reports, had avoided prosecution on the murder charges after escaping from the Valdosta, Ga., city jail in 1983.

She became a target of a major search and was placed on the U.S. Marshal`s Service 15 Most Wanted List.

In February, McNelis was arrested in a Fort Lauderdale motel and placed in federal custody.

Investigators said they suspected McNelis had been living in the Bradenton area and working as a waitress.

According to reports, McNelis pleaded guilty to four drug-related charges in June.